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| The Blue Eagles were not favored to repeat again |
One by one the dominoes began to
fall as the dream of the once favored Ateneo Blue Eagles to secure their third
straight UAAP Men’s basketball title came tumbling down. First was the
departure of JV Gayoso, although cleared by the Ateneo from any shenanigans,
Gayoso did not get back to the Eagles line up again. Second was Jet Nieto,
although prior to the season he already said that the 1988 season would be his
last and all efforts to lure him back were in vain. The biggest setback came
during the summer of 1989 when the Blue Eagles were surprisingly practicing in
a gym at the Agrarian Reform. The team was surprised that the parents of Danny
Francisco surprisingly arrived at the venue while the team was practicing.
Danny’s parents called him then talked to him, afterwards Danny told the team that
his parents told him and everyone was in shock.
Apparently, he has developed a sickness diagnosed as aneurysm of the
aorta. The collapsed lung the other year was a precursor of something more
severe. The actual diagnose of the sickness is Marfan syndrome. At the age of
nineteen, Danny Francisco retired from competitive Basketball. This was something no one saw coming as Danny
had great 1988 -89 season where he established himself as one of the best if
not the best center in the UAAP. He battled against the giants in the Asian
Youth tournament and now the man then known as the next PBA 4 time MVP Ramon
Fernandez has hung up his sneakers.
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| Danny Francisco during the 1989 Asian Youth Championship |
Adding more woes to the Blue Eagles
was the fact that Alex Araneta had some problems with the minimum units
required to play for season 52. Upon knowing that problem from Alex, the Blue Eagles had no choice but to drop Alex from the roster. For the fifth time in five years Ateneo had a new coach
as Ogie Narvasa was called in for duty but this time for the Seniors division. With Francisco and Araneta out, the Blue Eagles team became known as the "Dunkin Donuts team" a team without a center! The icing on the
cake was that Jun Reyes made it to the RP team and had to do National team
duties to compete in the SEA Games. That
means he will miss some games while the National team is in Malaysia. The Blue
Eagles campaign to defend their title ended even before it started because the core
is gone and whatever magic Coach Ogie has in his hands will be next to
impossible to win it all again. That said, favored to win were FEU and La Salle
who had 11 holdovers from their team last year. The Blue Eagles fought hard
this season and ended up in fourth place behind eventual champion La salle,
Runner-up FEU and UE. The UAAP had
gained so much popularity after the Blue Eagle’s first championship and the
interest on the league soared when the Eagles met the Archers in the 1988
finals. Looking back, the move to the UAAP is definitely the right decision.
Back then it was a leap of faith but because of that move, the Ateneo brought
class to the UAAP and that rubbed on to the other schools. The Hail Mary squad’s
fall from grace was never expected and no one dreamed that this day will
happen. The Ateneo Blue Eagles 1987 – 1988 team’s quest for greatness ended
here but their legacy remains in the hearts of every Atenean who supported the
team and cheered one big fight!
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